Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-06-24
LEGALITY OF STRIKES AND BOY
COTTs.

Ehject q p1ol1e interest," ID fe7lAAu -
which there $50 nah dOzb1, unesxtainty,
AID ocufaSon. And tins iznozAoes i not
oonsned 70 the gsnerl Pubtc, bat II *
isss IN TIE Legal prOSssssOa This Is parity
beoEuss many q The quesziOcs- axe novel
and nou-asj0dicassd, and partly because
Of The dIEsreDceS a opinion entertained by
iuSzss and Isgzl wrise-s Who have d1seoss-
"A tbs SubSect- Recent epsntss however,
m New YORK city have drawn attention 70
tbs important principles which regulate
t. lsw On tins matter The only way 70
obtain z1y dear knowledge Of the present.
ssHss q TIE law u 20 sxanine the English
Seci<O,s. Whieh- 30 fAr ~ they define The
common aw, are binding and authOrat1Ee
IN this eounfrT- Not All the Enllsh osses,
hOIsysr. are autbority here, A. VARIOUS
statutes have nOdikei the Law very essen-
tally in-recsrf years The ErouDd On which
= hased The legal eIinnality Of certain aets
committed BIZ lsbOT unions CT Individuals
i unlsEful Conspiracy. Of eOurse, any
actual violence l. criminal N ltself # II
anOunts To What L kDOEn - assault
ANY individual nay be punished fer this
without regard 90 his object Bat Aets
which N themselves committed BY one
person are perfectly innocent and legal
sometimes become unlawful II committed
By two Or more psrsOus, provided there
bad been previous eonspsrscy o. agree
uent between them 70 do tbess sets- As
an s1ampls OF criminal conspiracy may Dc
instaneac the ezse o. Kissing ID thesteE.
ANY person has the night q expressing his
dlsayprosariou Of The play Or the actor II
this way. II is Just n legal as aPplanse-
Bat If two OF more persons agree 70 before
land 70 ztten ! the theatre and his down
the actor or the play, this Is criminal
oOospiracy. The PRINCIPAL Is that men
have 10 night 70 combine o. con-
spire 70 i1jure another IN his
buiness or trade Workmen have DO legal
night 20 combine in this way 20 injure
tbeir employer. nor have employers the
night 70 combine 70 injure their employ
esz- II must be understood that there are
limits 20 this principle, and IL must Lot be
ints-pretsd TOO broadly. Fog instance,
w0rkneD have perfect night TO combine
and strike Tor higher wages or shorter
bours. even though this may cause, In
directly or directly, considerable injury
70 the employer. Strikes, II properly con
Quoted. without violence, threats. or in
timidation, are Dot Illegal But there are
fraorsntly certain incidents connected
with strikes which 20 10 make q ease OF
criminal conspiracy. As 70 bOyeOtts,
there seems 20 Be 10 d0ubt that they are
plainly criminal under our present. law.
A boycott presents strongly every feature
Of a conspiracy. II infiicts The greatest
injury On the business or trade Of the one
boyeottsd- In New York CIty II has been
directly held that boycott l. . criminal
OffrDse.
An examination Of the eases specially IL
tsresting as showing what acts have been
held criminal and those which are limo
cent Perhaps the earliest case IN New
York L the jOorneymsn eOrdEAiners' case.
which was tried in the General Sessions in
$50. The wOrknsn agreed not 10 work
fOr any person who should employ any one
Dot \ member Of the union after due notice
The employer refused 70 discharge non
union man and the Others struck They
we're tried FOR criminal conspiracy and con-
victed- the LEGALITY Of the combination
consisting in the Conspiracy 70 regulate By
coercion the wages and viii Of others II
Was the injury, not merely 10 the master.
bat 70 the nOn-7niOn workman As well
which constituted the crime In Psnnsyl-
vaniA. the charge wSs that q committee Of
strikers gave notice 20 other WoTkDen 70
Quit work The strikers were indicted,
but the charge Was dismissed, a. there were
DO threats or Intimidation In MzsSacbu-
sets, 4 master stOnecutter brought an &C
ton against q labor association 10 recover
damages The association had imposed q
fine upon the plaintiff because be had sent
a part Of the work 20 be done under con-
Tract In New York. and threatened him
with strike unless be paid the fine. On
his refusal. they caused the strike and
prevented hin from getting other work
men. This was held 10 Be clearly a crImi-
nal conspiracy. The money - paid can b
recovered. and the ASSOCIATION : liable f5r
al damages done 20 the business The
nudge deciding this case said: The acts
alleged and proved IN this CzAse are pecu-
liarly offensive 20 the free principles which
prevail in this country. and If such prsc-
riee could enjoy impunIty they would tend
70 establish 4 tyranny Of irresponsible PER
sons over labor and MECHANICAL busiEess
which would be extremely Injurious 10
both" Under similar circumstances in
New York the men who demanded and OBJ
tanned the tine we're convicted Of eItortiOn.
All the American eAses follow along the
line marked out by those IN England
The conspiracy l. criminal At common law,
and this l. true independent Of any stat
utes on the subject The English have
passed law. the act o. ISL. Whereby the
doctrine OF criminal conspiracy. 80 far q;
least as IL relates 70 labor disputes Is abol-
isbed. No combination for any purpose l.
illegal or criminal unless the act itself l.
criminal. We have not gone 50 lar a. this
In this country. Strikes have been legal
lied In maDy States, but there NAV stili be
prosecutions for conspiracy
The case Of the State against Glidden
and others. decided in ApTil, 1SS7. By the
SupreDe Court Of Connecticut, Is the latest
and most valuable expression Of Judicial
opinion on the subject Of boyeotts. This
was an Indictment for an attempt on the
part OF the defendants, who belonged u a
labor organization, % inlure and interfere
With the business Of the Darlington Pu =
fishing Company. The labor committee
proposed to compel the company to dis
charge wOrkusn OF It's Oxn choice and en-
ploy the defendants or persons named by
them. The company 10 have no voice in the
matter. They carried out their threat Of
boycott with It's accompanying injury 10
the business. Judge Carpenter In a very
lengthy opinion expressed himself very
strongly against the justice and legality
Of this proceeding even though the
BOYCOTT Was unaocompanied with violence
or actual intimidation. Il was held to be
criminal Il EHs hsld that 4 workman
has q night 10 eunpect himself with labor
union OF not, Just n he Pleasss- The COM